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Thundering Ruby Cloud Serpent

Alani the Stormborn, is a rare located in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. He has a buff called Nimbus Shroud that makes him immune from damage. To remove this buff you must use a Sky Crystal, which is created by combining 10 Skyshards. The farming of these skyshards can be a long and painful process if luck is not on your side.

First and foremost, I would HIGHLY recommend using a balance druid (level 90+). I know a lot of people think hunters are also great, but as someone who has tried both at 100, druid is far better in my opinion. The higher level (and item level) your druid is the faster it will make this process. I would also recommend you have the Ysera’s Gift talent. The passive heal helps so if you do take damage (unlikely if you are 100) you will never need to stop and cast an actual heal. I only used Starfall and Sunfire/Moonfire to kill the mobs while farming. You do need to be somewhat aware of your charges, and try to gather mobs together so you never run out.

I did all of my farming in Guo-Lai Halls in the northern part of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. This can be a popular spot so realm hopping may be useful, especially if you are on a PvP server, to avoid dying from other players and so they don’t slow your roll.

I always kill the mobs in the same order, with my cycle ending where you can go turn in your keys. I never go to the back/lower section. It’s honestly not worth the time to run through everything to get there. You won’t have much down time by only doing the main front sections. I start in the center at green, then blue, and only red if I have 3+ keys to turn in. Then it’s just rinse and repeat.

I would also highly recommend getting the addon Rarity (available on Curse) to keep track of your drop rates for this and everything else in WoW. It does make this incredibly depressing at times however, so be prepared.

When I started farming I already had a few shards saved from MoP. Back then I did a little farming but I had horrible luck for the most part and never stuck with it. The current shards were farmed from Feb-April whenever I was bored and had the time. The counts are not 100% accurate, but give or take 100. It’s hard to keep track when the numbers are flying by.

Shard 5: 680 kills

Shard 6: 2,300 kills

Shard 7: 1,100 kills

Shard 8: 4,400 kills

Shard 9: 2,950 kills

Shard 10: 1,680 kills

Total for 6 shards: Approximately 13,110 kills

While some people do have really amazing luck farming the shards, it won’t always be that easy. But if you really want the mount just keep going. They will drop, and you will get it. So hang in there.